The League

• The league has to deal with many postwar challenges:
  • breakdown of 4 major empires: GRAHO
  • border disputes
  • widespread social and economic chaos
  • disarmament for victors
  • upholding the mandates in the Middle East and former colonies
  • reparations
• The League Covenant or goals
  • Discourage aggresssion
  • Disarmament
  • Promote business and trade through a restoration of capitalistic world trade and political democracy
  • Promote worker rights and social welfare
• The idea of Collective Security: was the league just an alliance against Germans and Russian aggression?
  • Article 10: Preserve the territorial integrity and political independence of its members. The council will determine how to address breaches of this nation.
  • Article 11: Any war, or the threat of war, between members or non members, is within the purview of the whole league. The League may take actions to safeguard peace
  • Article 16: If one member goes to war with another members, its an act of war against the whole league. If an outside aggressor attacks someone in the league, the same principles apply.
• League Structure: 3 main parts, the Assembly, the Council, and the Secretariat
  • Assembly
    • The lower house with equal representation. Each country (42-60 countries) has three representatives, regardless of the size. The Assembly was the first level of passing resolutions about aggression, trade, etc.
    • Powers included
      • The powers of the purse, meaning they recommended monetary contributions for each state
      • admitting new members
      • they decided on temporary members of the Council.
    • The main weakness of the assembly was unanimity. However, members from states involved in disputes could not vote on that measure.
    • Assembly only met once a year fro 5 months (Geneva, Switzerland) they were often out of session when crises arose.
  • Council (UN Security Council)
    • consisted of four permanent members who had the power of veto for any measure.
    • Permanent members were Great Britain, France, Germany (1926), Japan, and Italy. Also 5 other temporary members, #3 Assembly.
    • Assembly measures had to be passed with unanimity by the Council. Veto gives the Permanent members too much power.
    • After Japan, Italy, and Germany leave the league, it is increasingly seen as an extension of Franco-British foreign policy.
  • Secretariat
    • Bureaucracy/civil service data collection, advice, experts, translations, etc. Also consisted of Commissions on various areas: The Saarland and Danzig, the Straits specifically. there were six other commissions.
• What is the League's response to micro aggression or war?
  • Determine who is the aggressor
    • This is determined by a Lower Assembly of all the states where every state has three voting delegates, regardless of size. The Assembly can only pass a measure with unanimity.
    • States in dispute may not vote.
    • Then the measure goes to the Upper Council for approval, who has the veto power. They also must be unanimous.
  • Once aggression is determined
    • Moral persuasion
      • Morals are subjective
      • Relativism
    • Economic Sanctions
      • embargo, partial trade restrictions
      • the level of these sanctions were left up to the Council
      • they had problems especially during the 20s and 30s when two major depressions hurt their ability and willingness of countries to apply economic restrictions.
      • Also not all countries in the world were League members.
      • sanctions could be circumvented (US)
    • Declare War/ resort to force
      • never happens in terms of war, but troops may be sent in as a peacekeeping/buffer force.
      • Problem was that members had to contribute, pay for troops, which generally became a burden for France and Britain
• The 6 commissions
  • 1. Permanent count of Justice the Hague (World Court) was an international dispute adjudication body. Its weakness was that is was voluntary jurisdiction. Also measures/judgements could not be enforced. It does add to the moral persuasion argument. Its precedent was Nuremberg.
  • 2. ILO is the International Labour Organization, which worked to end Child labor worldwide and banned lead paint in the workplace
  • 3. The Commission on Mandates was mainly in the East, African Colonies, Oceania, and on former possessions of central powers.
  • 4. Refugees were repatriated. There were 400K Prisoners of War from World War 1. It also dealt with Turkish-Greek Refugee Crisis (1918-22). It resettled 2 million refugees.
  • 5. Health, whose predecessor was the World Health Organization dealt with cholera, smallpox, typhus, and the plague. The Soviets even requested aid. Work on malaria and yellow fever and mosquito eradication, and flu vaccines
  • 6. Drugs and Slavery freed 200K slaves in Sierra Leone, Burma, and East Africa. It exposed companies who profited from illegal drug trade, like Opium
• Weakness of the League
  • Structure
    • The Assembly met for only 5 months
    • The Unanimity Rule (article 22) and the veto power for the Permanent Council Members (Italy, Great Britain, France, and Japan and Germany added in 1926)
    • The permanent powers had too much power and nothing could get done
    • There was in inability to enforce rulings
  • Lack of major members such as the USSR, Germany, and the US
  • The US fails to ratify Versailles/League Charter. There were domestic issues between Wilson and Henry Cabot Lodge and the Republicans who were against the League
  • Article 10: who determines if it applies. It takes power away from Congress
  • Treaties were unfair to Italy and Germany, which lead to wars of revenges.
  • Republicans thought the new war would be funded by the US because Europe was in debt
  • In 1920, 4:1 electoral win for Republicans referendum on League.
  • Warren G Harding wins the election over Cox. The League defeated in the Senate destabilizes much of the rationale behind the League, and Peace.
  • Soviets and Lenin suspected with the US that the League intended to promote imperialism. Lack of US/Russian presence weaken sits influence in Asia and the Pacific.
  • There is an advantage to Japan. Also the lack of Germany and Russia weakens the League in E Europe.
• Leagues Response to Various Crises
  • There is an initial problem of precedence in the decision making processes.
    • League (New in Geneva) is challenged early on by the Conference of Ambassadors, which is a residue of the Paris Peace Conference.
    • The Conference of Ambassadors is responsible for reparations, borders, and plebiscites for self-determination.
  • Vilna Crisis of 1920
    • The Capital of Lithuania is Vilna. The Successor states constructed from Lithuania from former Russian lands. During the Russian Civil war and concurrent Russo-Polish War, the Red army under Trotsky had captured Vilna.
    • The Polish army drives the Reds back and in the process liberates Vilna. Vilna is 30% Polish and strategically important to expanded Polish state.
    • The Poles decide to keep Vilna for themselves in violation of principle self-determination. Lithuanians are pissed, so they send troops to retake Vilna from Poles while appealing to League, because both the Poles and Lithuania are a part of the League.
    • The League rules in favor of the Lithuanians. The Poles appeal to the Conference of Ambassadors, which is dominated by the French. Because France wants an ally with Poland to create a potential two front war with Germany, the French rules in favor of the Poles.
    • The League acquiesces to the Conference of Ambassador's decision. This shows the League is weak and potentially manipulated by its great power members.
    • The Poles and Lithuanians fight sporadically over Vilna until 1927.
  • Aaland Island Crisis (1921)
    • Between Sweden and Finland
    • Aaland was awarded to Finland when it was constructed from Russia as part of the Cordon Sanitaire
    • Sweden objects claiming that Aaland was 70% Swedish (self-determination)
    • Swedes and Fins threated war, but both, as members of the League, appeal to the League for a decision
    • The League awards Aaland to Finland
    • Swedes disagree, but abide by the League's decision, strengthening the prestige and power of the League
  • Upper Silesia Plebiscite of 1921
    • Lower Silesia was taken from Germany and given to Poland per the Versailles Treaty
    • Upper Silesia's fate was to be determined by a plebiscite
    • Upper Silesia was a center for industry, coal, and iron, possession of which would strengthen Poland and weaken Germany, which France wanted
    • Before the vote, rioting erupts in the region and the League sends in peacekeepers, who are French and British, that pacify and hold the election
    • Result: 800K:500K voted to stay German
    • After this, the Poles riot and Poland appeals to the League
    • France intervenes and convinces the League to split upper Silesia into German and Polish parts, and the Poles end up getting the best lands
  • British view of the League
    • They want a balance of power because they are concerned with India, Ireland, China
    • The Brits worry over French preponderance and would like to strengthen Germany
    • They also think strengthening the Germany economy will aid the world economic recovery
    • Moreover, German economic recovery implies German ability to pay reparations
    • British are anxious to let the League act as Germany's helper
  • French view of the League
    • They want security
    • France thinks the League will eventually ameliorate the treaty provisions for Germany
    • France relies more on the C of A, which they control, to enforce the harsh treaty measures and strengthen France's allies
  • Corfu Crisis
    • League's biggest challenge
    • Part of the peace settlement of Paris in 1919 included a redrawing of the boundary between Albania and Greece
    • C of A appoints an Italian military group to go survey this border
    • This Italian party is ambushed and 5 members are killed, including the leader of the group, an Italian general by the name of Tellini
    • Mussolini  then takes over and blames the Greeks, demanding compensation and that the Greeks put the perpetrators to death
    • Greece claims they are not responsible
    • Mussolini responds with the occupation of the Greek Island of Corfu
      • Mussolini is into irredentism
    • Both countries are members of the League, but Italy is on the council
    • The League tells the Italians to get out, but tells the Greeks to pay the Italians some hush money
    • Mussolini disagrees with the league's decision and appeals to the C of A, which is dominated by the French who want Italian support in reparations/Ruhr Crisis of 1923
    • C of A rules in Italy's favor and Mussolini claims victory and withdraws from Corfu
    • League circumvented by 2 of 4 permanent council members
  • Economic Crises of Austria (1922), Hungary (1923), and Estonia (1927)
    • All newly constituted and economically unviable and all threatened with economic collapse
    • League intervenes and arranges international loans (predecessor to IMF) and sends economic advisors to help navigate their financial crises
    • Successful until 1929
  • Mosul Settlement (1924)
    • Oil center of Iraq and Kurdish population center
    • Treaty of Lausanne (1922)  left possession of Mosul up to British and Turkish negotiations
    • Brits propose making Mosul the capital of Kurdistan, but the Turks deny
    • British issue an ultimatum and occupy Mosul for oil
    • League approves
      • Acting on moral grounds or extension of British imperialism?
    • Mosul becomes part of Iraq (British mandate)
  • Greek-Bulgarian Dispute of 1925
    • Boundary dispute
    • Bulgarians kill some Greek soldiers because they think they are on their territory
    • Greeks take this opportunity to invade Bulgaria and take territory that is not theirs
    • The League intervenes and tells Greece to get out and makes Bulgaria pay compensation
    • The Greeks are still unhappy and believes there are two sets of rules
      • One when small countries have disputes
      • One when a great power is involved
  • Memel Dispute (1924)
    • C of A decides to make the Lithuanian city of Memel a free city
    • Lithuanians object and occupy Memel (Klaipeda) with troops
    • League has sent in French troops to carry out the internationalization of Memel
    • Lithuania defies League, French troops refuse to fight, and the League's prestige lessens